HOLE


Meaning of HOLE in English

— holeless , adj. — holey , adj.

/hohl/ , n. , v. , holed, holing .

n.

1. an opening through something; gap; aperture: a hole in the roof; a hole in my sock.

2. a hollow place in a solid body or mass; a cavity: a hole in the ground.

3. the excavated habitation of an animal; burrow.

4. a small, dingy, or shabby place: I couldn't live in a hole like that.

5. a place of solitary confinement; dungeon.

6. an embarrassing position or predicament: to find oneself in a hole.

7. a cove or small harbor.

8. a fault or flaw: They found serious holes in his reasoning.

9. a deep, still place in a stream: a swimming hole.

10. Sports.

a. a small cavity, into which a marble, ball, or the like is to be played.

b. a score made by so playing.

11. Golf.

a. the circular opening in a green into which the ball is to be played.

b. a part of a golf course from a tee to the hole corresponding to it, including fairway, rough, and hazards.

c. the number of strokes taken to hit the ball from a tee into the hole corresponding to it.

12. Informal. opening; slot: The radio program was scheduled for the P.M. hole. We need an experienced person to fill a hole in our accounting department.

13. Metalworking. (in wire drawing) one reduction of a section.

14. Electronics. a mobile vacancy in the electronic structure of a semiconductor that acts as a positive charge carrier and has equivalent mass.

15. Aeron. an air pocket that causes a plane or other aircraft to drop suddenly.

16. burn a hole in one's pocket , to urge one to spend money quickly: His inheritance was burning a hole in his pocket.

17. hole in the wall , a small or confining place, esp. one that is dingy, shabby, or out-of-the-way: Their first shop was a real hole in the wall.

18. in a or the hole ,

a. in debt; in straitened circumstances: After Christmas I am always in the hole for at least a month.

b. Baseball , Softball. pitching or batting with the count of balls or balls and strikes to one's disadvantage, esp. batting with a count of two strikes and one ball or none.

c. Stud Poker. being the card or one of the cards dealt face down in the first round: a king in the hole.

19. make a hole in , to take a large part of: A large bill from the dentist made a hole in her savings.

20. pick a hole or holes in , to find a fault or flaw in: As soon as I presented my argument, he began to pick holes in it.

v.t.

21. to make a hole or holes in.

22. to put or drive into a hole.

23. Golf. to hit the ball into (a hole).

24. to bore (a tunnel, passage, etc.).

v.i.

25. to make a hole or holes.

26. hole out , Golf. to strike the ball into a hole: He holed out in five, one over par.

27. hole up ,

a. to go into a hole; retire for the winter, as a hibernating animal.

b. to hide, as from pursuers, the police, etc.: The police think the bank robbers are holed up in Chicago.

[ bef. 900; ME; OE hol hole, cave, orig. neut. of hol (adj.) HOLLOW; c. G hohl hollow ]

Syn. 1, 2. pit, hollow, concavity. HOLE, CAVITY, EXCAVATION refer to a hollow place in anything. HOLE is the common word for this idea: a hole in turf. CAVITY is a more formal or scientific term for a hollow within the body or in a substance, whether with or without a passage outward: a cavity in a tooth; the cranial cavity. An EXCAVATION is an extended hole made by digging out or removing material: an excavation before the construction of a building. 3. den, cave; lair, retreat. 4. hovel, shack.

Random House Webster's Unabridged English dictionary.      Полный английский словарь Вебстер - Random House .